Impact
by Keppy and Tree
Summary: After a car crash, will it be time for Lupo to find a new partner yet again?


The only people that remained in the precinct were two detectives; partners Kevin Bernard and Cyrus Lupo. Lupo looked up from the case file he was typing up and glanced at the clock. Both hands were pointing at the 11. Lupo sighed and rubbed his tired eyes; he hadn't realized how late it was. He stood up and stretched. Bernard looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. "Where are you heading?" Bernard asked in a voice hoarse from the lack of sleep. "Home, man. It's pretty late," Lupo said. He picked up his briefcase and coat. "You should get going too. You look like hell"  
"I'll head out in a minute. I'm just going to finish this," Bernard said, looking back at his computer. Lupo shrugged and headed for the door.  
"Okay, man. Goodnight," Lupo called back over his shoulder.  
"'Night," Bernard replied. He yawned and went back to work. Bernard didn't finish until past midnight, and by then he was so exhausted he considered sleeping at the precinct. He decided not too, because the precinct was just too empty and lonely. Of course his home wouldn't be any different, but at least it was more familiar.  
Bernard grabbed his coat lathargicly, and walked out the door. He turned the knob to make sure it was locked, which it was. Bernard walked yawning to his car, which happened to be the only one left in the lot. He unlocked the door and climbed into the dark interior.  
He headed out to the dark, desolate road dimly lit with street lights. He drove a little slower than usual and tried to fight the heavy blanket of sleep that loomed over him.. He stopped at a red light and rested his head against the steering wheel, finallysuccumbing to the overpowering urge to sleep. He didn't notice the light turn green. He didn't notice the speeding car whirl around the corner behind him. When the car was about ten feet behind him and still speeding, Bernard was still oblivious. The car slammed into Bernard's and the glass shattered. Bernard didn't even try to brace himself for the massive impact.  
It was 4 in the morning when Lupo's cellphone started ringing. Lupo rolled over in bed, wondering why someone was calling him so early in the morning. Hefigured it was the Leiutenant, calling about another homocide or something. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, Lupo reached over and grabbed the phone off his nightstand with the other. He flipped open the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Lupo," he grumbled. " Detective, I have bad news." It was the Leiutenant. She usually didn't say something like that before handing him a case. Lupo sat up, a little more alert now.  
" What's up?" Lupo asked.  
" Your partner is in the hospital"  
" Wait, what? Bernard's in the hospital?" Lupo's sleepy eyes widened in shock.  
" Yeah. Apperently, he was in a car crash late last night"  
" Ohh, God. What hospital?" Lupo asked.  
" New York General. Go on over there. I'm gonna give you the day off," the Leiutenant said sympathetically.  
" Thanks. Well I'll see you later"  
" Ok, " she replied, and then hung up. Lupo immediatly climbed out of bed and pulled on some pants and a wrinkled shirt, then grabbed his keys and headed out the door. Of course he was going to visit Bernard right now. Bernard was his partner; not his favorite partner (Lupo's mind jumped to Ed), but still.  
A few minutes later, Lupo arrived at the hospital that was bustling with people even in the early hours of the morning. He hurried over to the reception desk where a frantic looking blonde nurse was talking on the phone and leafing through files at the same time. "Excuse me?" Lupo asked politely. The nurse put down the phone and looked up at him, still searching through the files.  
"How can I help you?" She asked impatiently.  
" Could you please give me the room number for Kevin Bernard? I'm his partner, Detective Cyrus Lupo," Lupo pulled out his badge and held it out for the nurse to see.  
The nurse barely glanced at it before saying-" He's room 342, third floor. Sign in before you go." The nurse picked up the phone again. Lupo scrawled his name on the sheet next to him and headed for the elevator. When he arrived at room 342, he pushed the door open and nearly gasped at what he saw. Bernard was laying on the white bed, eyes closed. His arm was in a sling, and both legs were in large blue casts. His skin was covered in large red cuts from the glass, a ridiculous amount of tubes extended out of his mouth. You couldn't even see his face. Hands shaking, Lupo walked over to where his partner lay and sat down. The door to the room opened again, and a middle aged doctor with wild black hair walked over to Lupo. "He's in a coma. Massive head trauma from the crash. His brain is swollen." The doctor tried to make his voice sound slightlycomforting, but Lupo didn't feel better at all. "Will he wake up?" Lupo asked anxiously. The doctor bit his lip and sat down in the chair next to Lupo. Lupo anticipated that this wasn't going to be good news.  
"'Well...the thing is, his brain is still bleeding. We did all we could, but we just can't help him anymore. I'm sorry, sir, but he might not make it through the day." The doctor put his hand on Lupo's shoulder. "He has about a couple more hours to live, longest would be a day." The doctor nodded solemnly, then stood up and walked out the door.  
Lupo sat in the chair staring at Bernard. How could this happen? Lupo buried his face in his hands. He had said sorry for you loss so many times, that it would be automatic. When his brother died, he had heard sorry for your loss many times from several people. He couldn't take hearing those words again. When he looked up again, he saw Connie standing next to him, looking pretty as ever, even at 4:30 in the morning. " Hey," she said sounding sad, and took a seat next to him. " Hey," Lupo replied. " I heard, Lupo. That he only has a couple of hours"  
" Yeah. I don't know what to do. I... I...," Lupo stammered. Tears filled his eyes.  
" It's alright. I blame that drunk bitch for driving her car into Bernard's," Connie said fiercely.  
" It..it was a drunk driver"  
" Yeah, didn't you hear? "  
" No, I didn't." Lupo's mind raced to the night before. If he had just stayed at the precinct a bit longer, maybe it would have been him rather than his partner lying on his deathbed. Tears of sorrow and guilt trickled down his face. Lupo buried his face into his hands again. He didn't notice that Connie was crying too until he looked up. The tears rolling down were messing up her beautiful face. Her mascara was running off, staining the area below her eyes. Connie noticed Lupo looking at her with his shrinken red eyes. Those eyes said that they needed someone to hold onto. They said that She laid her hand on Lupo's shoulder. Lupo laid his strong hand on her delicate one and didn't let go.  
It was 5:25. If the doctor was correct, which he most likely was, Bernard only had a few minutes left to live. About seven minutes later, Lupo heard the frantic beeping of the machine next to Bernard. That's the last thing he remembered before drowning in grief. 


End file.
